Trip to GA

Marcia K · Post by **Marcia K** » Fri Jun 08, 2018 9:19 am

Hello, everyone. I shared my successful trip to FL and I thought I'd share my more challenging trip to Ft. Benning, GA. I was leery that it would be more difficult to find safe food, and it was. Our flight was very early so I didn't eat first. I had hemp protein powder in my carry on but there was no almond milk to be found in the airport. Instead I had two bananas and a packet of Justin's almond butter. When we arrived in Ft. Benning it was lunchtime and we went to the PX to find something to eat. Again, nothing there for me. Luckily I packed a can of tuna which I had for lunch along with some potato chips I purchased at the PX. The PX did have tuna, but it all contained soy and/or seasonings. Dinner was fine at the Texas Roadhouse which was 25 minutes off of base. The only food on base were fast foods, which is sad. There was a Wal-Mart close by where I purchased Adele's chicken sausage, steamable broccoli, frozen mango, bananas and potato chips so I was covered for lunch each day. Dinner the second evening was challenging. I ordered a plain burger and plain green beans. I was awake all night so I'm sure I was glutened. Lately I found if I'm glutened I have insomnia rather than stomach issues. Our last evening we were tired and had to get up at 3:00 a.m. so we went to Wal-Mart where I purchased a microwavable sweet potato and safe Canadian bacon and had some of the broccoli purchased earlier. For our return flight home I took two bananas, Canadian bacon and broccoli in the yogurt-to-go cup that I took along in my carry on. I had Nick's turkey sticks along (Vitacost) which I didn't eat and Oskri coconut bars which I ate every day. We had a refrigerator and microwave in our room which made things easier for me. While it wasn't perfect with a little bit of imagination I was able to eat and not be hungry. I also carried my lunch in the yogurt-to-go cup when we went shopping because I knew there wouldn't be anything for me in the food court, and I was right. As Carol wrote in my FL post, she misses the spontaneity. As my husband and son's gf ate in the food court I would have liked to enjoy a chicken wrap like they were having but it is what it is. My son graduated from Infantry Officer School and seeing him again made it all worthwhile!

Post by **tex** » Fri Jun 08, 2018 11:22 am

Hi Marcia,

Glad you were able to enjoy the trip. And congratulations to your son. You reminded me that we have to learn to be very skilled hunter-gatherers if we hope to survive away from home in the modern "jungle". We're pioneers in a sense, and you handled it well.

Tex

Marcia K · Post by **Marcia K** » Fri Jun 08, 2018 6:20 pm

Thanks, Tex. I never thought of it that way, but we truly are hunter-gatherers when we leave the safety of our home base.

carolm · Post by **carolm** » Sat Jun 09, 2018 9:00 am

Hi Marcia- congratulations on another successful trip and congratulations to your son on his accomplishments.
I appreciate hearing how you navigated all of this. More interesting- I don’t find your food choices odd at all which only shows how far we’ve come.

. I can make a meal from a handful of almonds, some deli turkey and a fruit and coconut bar and that seems very normal to me. I think you did great and are getting this down to an art.

Thanks for sharing-
Carol

Marcia K · Post by **Marcia K** » Sat Jun 09, 2018 3:40 pm

Thank you, Carol. I hope by sharing it will encourage others to step out of the safety zone. When we entered the food court my son's gf said, "I think I saw something that said gluten free." I told her it was okay, I had my lunch with me. I don't know if she found that odd, but she didn't say anything. I don't try to explain that it's much more than gluten that I have to avoid. The meal you described is something that I would eat, too.

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Sun Jun 10, 2018 1:34 pm

Congratulations to your son and thank him for his service.

Marcia said,

we truly are hunter-gatherers when we leave the safety of our home base.

ROFLMAO.

I find the southeastern United States the toughest region for MCers (and I live in the south.)
I typically get "glutened" in restaurants in the south.

In California restaurants I can eat about 70% of items on the menu and don't get gluttened.
I don't have problems in New York City and Colorado and Montana are very MC friendly.

The southeast is the worst.

Marcia K · Post by **Marcia K** » Sun Jun 10, 2018 1:53 pm

Thanks, Brandy. I will tell him. He was going to go attend another school at Ft. Benning and I would have returned to GA in 90 days. I wasn't looking forward to that and I'm glad it didn't work out (but I didn't tell him that). I believe the southeast is the worst, too. When I googled menus everything was barbeque this and barbeque that. What a nightmare!

carolm · Post by **carolm** » Sun Jun 10, 2018 5:54 pm

That’s interesting. Here in Kansas City the bbq restaurants have been the easiest places to find lots of gluten free options. And they are knowledgeable about food allergens and the ingredients of their sides.

Deb · Post by **Deb** » Tue Jun 12, 2018 7:19 am

We spend winters in Alabama and it has always been a challenge finding restaurants that understand gluten. I had one young waitress, after telling her I couldn't eat gluten, say "What, you can't eat sweet potatoes?"

I do think it is slowly getting better though. We are now living in a very small community in N Georgia where there is a farm to table restaurant that has at least half of their entrees gluten free. Delightful!